Nurse practitioner praised

correspondence IuRSE PRACTITIONER PRAISED the Edztor." The artacle in t h e 1975 M a y / J u n e issue of J A C E P , "The • " r " b y R a y m o n A. Noble, MD, et al; was urse Practltmne :cellent. The contents w i t h i n were informative a n d m e a n i n g f u l ~d, I trust, other e m e r g e n c y d e p a r t m e n t s with comparae patient care and professional activities will consider te value and usefulness of the nurse practitioner. ,~Iy brief experience as a preceptor w o r k i n g with the ~rse practitioner in h e r post didactic clinical t r a i n i n g rl0d has been r e w a r d i n g . The i m p l e m e n t a t i o n of this type of personnel in the alth care t e a m seems appropriate, if not m a n d a t o r y , in w of the rising p r i m a r y care d e m a n d s of e m e r g e n c y and bulatorv care d e p a r t m e n t s t h r o u g h o u t the countrv. 0mas J. O'Connell, MD mt Francis Hospital artford, Connecticut

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l eEmergency Medicine Reszdents Assoczatton ( E M R A ) , 1ned m the fall o f 1974, zs concerned with the ehgibilit3 erta for the future board e x a m i n a t w n in emergency f zcme J a m e s R. Roberts, MD, acts as E M R A s represenlive to ACEP. He recently shared the results o f a survey lelnergency medmine reszdents with J A C E P .

'~SIDENTS WANT STRICT CRITERIA Ithe Edztor: inFebruarv 1975, a l e t t e r and q u e s t i o n n a i r e concerning ,aatter of board e l i g i b i l i t y was sent to each r e s i d e n t in ergency medicine. More t h a n h a l f of the resadents re~nded within t h r e e weeks after receipt of the questionre I've enclosed a copy of the results of t h a t survey (see 0w) Although it is recognized t h a t the certification [tera will be developed by the yet to be established 0rlcan Board of E m e r g e n c y Medicine, t h e r e seemed to tS0ae r a t h e r strong feelings r e g a r d i n g the eligibility |tera ~ssue from the residents who responded to the sur-

I ~

~ July/August 1975

v e y . . . The major concern a m o n g t h e r e s i d e n t s is to m a k e board e l i g i b i l i t y a s t r i n g e n t process with e m p h a s i s upon s e l e c t i v i t y and quality. A t the p a s t two A C E P m e e t i n g s ( W a s h i n g t o n and P a l m Springs), there was a g r e a t deal of e n t h u m a s m among the r e s i d e n t s in e m e r g e n c y medicine. A l t h o u g h residents a r e active in only a few A C E P committees, with continued t i m e and effort, a much s t r o n g e r r e l a t i o n s h i p is sure to be established. George Podgorny, MD, has been appointed as liaison to E M R A and we are d e l i g h t e d to have ham as our colleague• Sincerely, J a m e s R. Roberts, MD E M R A R e p r e s e n t a t i v e to the A m e r i c a n College of E m e r g e n c y P h y s i c i a n s SURVEY OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE RESIDENTS Q u e s t i o n : I feel t h a t the following should be used as c r i t e r i a for e h g i b i h t y for b o a r d c e r t i f l c a n o n an e m e r g e n c y medicine: YES

NO

1. Completion of a t h r e e - y e a r approved residency p r o g r a m only.

11%

89%

2. Completion of a t h r e e - y e a r residency p r o g r a m or six y e a r s m t h e f u l l - t i m e p r a c n c e of e m e r g e n c y medicane.

89%

11%

3. A p p l i c a n o n m u s t be m a d e w i t h i n t h r e e y e a r s after board e s t a b l i s h m e n t in the case of the sax-year experience clause (with the connotatmn that, after t h r e e y e a r s , o n l y t h o s e c o m p l e t i n g a n approved resadency p r o g r a m be eligible).

88%

12~

4. C o m p l e t i o n of a n o t h e r r e s i d e n c y (eg, i n t e r n a l medicane, g e n e r a l surgery) w i t h a specified t i m e e n g a g e d an t h e p r a c n c e of e m e r g e n c y m e d i c i n e (less than mx years).

57%

43%

5. C o m p l e t i o n of a n o t h e r r e s i d e n c y w i t h no specified t i m e m the practice of e m e r g e n c y medicine.

18% 82%

Volume 4 Number 4 Page 355